This invention relates to the optical fiber fabrication generally, and more particularly to effective utilization of optical fiber preforms while maintaining the quality of resulting optical fibers.
Representative exemplars of the manufacture of optical fibers from an optical fiber preform are found in Saito et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,399, Apparatus for Supporting Article in Heating Furnace, May 23, 1995) discussing securing a glass article to a rotary shaft. A slot is provided for receiving a cylindrical projection formed at an upper end of the glass article. Gunther et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,929, Process for the Manufacturing of Optical Waveguides with Fusion of a Sleeving Tube onto a Mother Preform, Jul. 7, 1992) discusses inserting a rod inside a tube and collapsing the tube. Meerman (U.S. Pat. No. 4,617,041, Method for Continuously Manufacturing Elongaoted Bodies Starting from Unmolten Solid Starting Material, Oct. 14, 1986) teaches melting glass in a melting tube. Titchmarsh (U.S. Pat. No. 4,217,123, Double Crucible Method of Optical Fiber Manufacture, Aug. 12, 1980) teaches use of two crucibles. Philips (U.S. Pat. No. 4,145,201, Glass Fiber Producing and Collecting Apparatus, Mar. 20, 1979) discusses a speed control for a glass fiber production. As stated above, an optical fiber is manufactured from optical fiber preforms. As the cost of the optical fiber preform is significant, there is a need for maximizing the use of the optical fiber preform without lowering the quality of the resulting optical fiber. In this regard, one of the problems in the art that I have found is the fluctuations of the conditions within a furnace of a optical fiber fabrication device. Irregularities in structures that enter the furnace is a cause of the fluctuations. For examples, fluctuations in pressure can occur due to a localized diameter variation fonned when an optical fiber preform and an auxiliary quartz rod are joined. I have found that the art has a need for an apparatus and a method that can solve this problem without overly raising cost.